Archive of the pre-timeskip roleplays. If you wish to continue a pre-timeskip roleplay, you'll have to do so in the DT Freestyle subforum! PM Thalar to have a thread moved from this subforum to the Freestyle subforum.

"I'm sorry... It just slipped out." Dristin honestly didn't mean to bring up bad memories, like she said, it happened by accident. That stupid mouth of hers! Or was her brain responsible for this gaffe? Either way, she should be more careful from now on, no more mentioning of "the accident" in front of Kalandrin. Strange. Was part of her still afraid of the born drider? Surely, she herself was more dangerous than-GUH!?

The tarsi of two of Dristin's right legs made a 90° angle in comparison to the others. What was going on here? She extended her arm to investigate. A wall. Had she been walking that close to the edge of the corridor? Well, it was really dark in this part of the fortress, combined with the choice of colour it made it hard to see, even for drow eyes. Looking around she could still make out Kalandrin, or rather the younger Ne'kalsaider (who was just a bit more colourful) she carried on her back. With a few quick paces Dristin was right next to the two other driders again. Kalandrin didn't seem to be that inconvenienced by the dark.

"Don't think about it" Kalandrin replied somewhat more warmly than before, and tried to smile; she would turn to look at Dristin but with Ziffy on the way, it would most likely be pointless. She eventually let out a cool chuckle and slowed down, until she was side by side with the now wall-walking Waelinider. The sight amused the old drider; it was merry, in a sense, and so she moved uncomfortably close to the youngling, so as to force her use the wall rather than the floor.

Kalandrin turned to look at Dristin. "That's the spirit; learn using your body. Just make sure you do not cause any damages" she nodded encouragingly, keeping up with her sister's pace to not allow her to come back down on the floor so easily. Wall-walking was fun anyway, and one of the key advantages of drider cavalry over other forms of special cavalry forces... neither wolves nor tigers could attack you from under a bridge now, could they?

Something had amused Kalandrin, but Dristin wasn't sure what. Unfortunately for her, she would find out soon enough as the older drider closed the gap between them, forcing her legs to make contact with the wall again. "Wait! What are you-!" she said as her four right legs were now clinging to the wall's surface, the rest soon followed. Dristin was wall-walking!

She tried to outrun the Ne'kalsaider, but even with Ziffy on her back Kalandrin could easily keep up and even encouraged her. Then it struck her, she could see better now (and also her hair). During her panic she must have opened the eyes on her forehead. Those disgusting eyes! She stopped dead in her tracks, clutching her old dress and the improvised ada pouch. Out came an uneasy laugh. "Hu... Huhuhu... Look, Kal. I'm a drider..." she said as she slowly turned her head to the two Ne'kalsaiders.

Kalandrin smiled at Dristin's reaction, enjoying this cat-and-mouse game; as they were heading steadily closer and closer to her nest, it was not too bad, though the adult remained alert and careful with her movements so as to not hurt the sleeping driderling that she was carrying on her back. She had proclaimed her a sister... though a motherly instinct was awakening inside the knight. Having been raised by a surrogate mother she called 'sister' herself, Kalandrin did have some hidden ghosts inside her...

"That you are, Dristin..." Kalandrin nodded with a welcoming, encouraging smile. She knew that dealing with newly 'awakened' Waelinider was not easy; in fact it was a tender and sensitive process, as they could slide down to madness as easily as they could become bright and easily adapted to their new lifestyles. Herself, she knew this waelinider for a while now... though she was shocked to discover the drow child she used to have chats with had become one of 'her own.' Ziffy's arrival was just as surprising; and no matter how risky things she did, Kalandrin didn't know whether she could scold her seriously.

"Come on... My rooms are not far from here" Kalandrin explained, and made some space for Dristin to return to more conventional surfaces she could walk on. Although Ziffy appeared to be alright, she still had bled and fainted from overexertion; the one thing the Ne'kalsaider knight was hoping the most was that everything would be alright for both of the young adults... or old children, rather, that she had found today.

For a moment Dristin pondered about what to do next: should she continue on the wall, or go back to the boring old floor? What kind of question is that!? There is nothing wrong with the floor! She had no need for this body's features, nobody did, the drow race functioned quite well with just two legs. Without much effort, too little for her taste, Dristin returned to the ordinary horizontal plane. "That was far too easy..." she mumbled to herself, and chuckled. "Heh. Dristin the drider... I'm Dristin the drider..."

She continued to follow Kalandrin, wondering what a drider... dwelling would look like. Would there be web? If so, it would be a nice diversion in this dark hole of a fortress.

Kalandrin turned over to look at her sister with a gaze that betrayed her concern. In the end, she could not help but smile; in this mixture of impulses from her old and new bodies alike, there was a hint of tranquil sanity... A shard that could easily be overwhelmed, for it represented a narrow separator between the two beings. This shard was the new Dristin, in the knight's honest opinion; a lovely, adorable driderling with a drow's customs and habits.

"Have you ever been to a drider's place before, Dristin?" Kalandrin asked softly, as her hands reaffirmed her grasp on the still asleep Ziffy. She was not slowing down, for she was too worried about the fainted and powerless empath's health, but the least she could do for the other one was to show concern and be at her side. Both were her sisters, after all; from today she would raise them as her children, and though it would be difficult to not play favourites...

...No, Kalandrin would do it. She had managed to kill demons with her bare hands; how difficult could raising a waelinider and an empath ne'kalsaider be?

"Hm? No, never." Dristin answered. Come to think of it, it was a question with an obvious answer and Kalandrin probably expected as much. Does this mean they were there? Her curiousity piqued. What would the home of this nice old gal be like? She would find out soon enough.

Ziphaenarla trotted confidently, her merry visage startling some bystanders of the grim fortress. She was going to prove she could reach the baths all on her own... had she ever known the place. Letting her ears droop for her mistake, Ziphaenarla climbed up until she was hanging upside down in the ceiling of the fortress, and stretched her neck in all directions, confident in that her height would have helped in seeing things in the distance. However it was not her lucky day, as everywhere she squinted, the darkness devoured all shape in few paces.

"Bummer!" She cursed and tapped and kicked the floor beneath her feet... forgetting that she was in the ceiling position for a brief moment and thus losing grip, her fall resonating in the corners of the fortress.

Kalandrin maintained her calm pace, staying silent even at Dristin's presence. Simply put, she wasn't yet used to all of this: she was ancient, and had spend most of her twenty-four decade life effectively alone and under little company, at least as far as her presence in this section of the fortress was concerned. She wouldn't usually bathe with someone else, or even have such... intimate encounters with other driders in the first place. She was a freak by drider standards, the knight was sure of it.

"I hope Ziffy didn't go far" Kalandrin managed to find and say, smiling at Dristin. "If she gets lost, it could be a bit of a problem. I do not think that the nobles will appreciate an intrusion in their quarters" she added, shaking her head negatively. A loud thump and a word of pain interrupted her, however, and she frowned, picking up her pace quickly, to find Ziffy upside-down on the floor. The adult Ne'kalsaider didn't know whether she should laugh or be angered at this; frowning, she just offered a hand to the prone drider.

"I swear to the Goddess, this is the first time I have ever seen a prone drider. One would wonder whether it was really possible but--" she said, ending her sentence short. "Whatever. How did you manage to end up like this?" she asked in a friendlier, more sisterly manner.

Dristin quietly followed the old drider, who was just as silent as she was. Maybe she should say something. But what? Aaaargh, this used to be much easier! In the end it was Kalandrin who broke the silence, voicing her concern about Ziffy. All Dristin could respond with was an agreeable "hm...", something she wasn't sure if Kal had heard.

Right after that, a loud thud could be heard echoing through the corridors, followed by a comical "ow". If the nobles hadn't been aware of Ziffy's presence, they were now. Dristin had to try her hardest to keep her laughter down, the sight of the empath drider all sprawled out on the floor was almost too much. After Kalandrin extended a hand and lightly scolded her, Dristin burst out in laughter.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! That- Haha! That was- HAHAHAHAHAHAH-" Mid-laugh her expression suddenly turned into a scowl. "YOU MORON! WHO COULD POSSIBLY MAKE SUCH A RACKET IN THE PRESENCE OF NOBLES! YOU! ONLY YOU! YOU MOROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Immediately after that she turned back to laughter, this time, however, it was more of a nervous chuckle. If any nearby nobles hadn't heard Ziffy, they certainly would've heard her shouting.

"I'm sorry..." she said as she buried her face in her palm. "I guess I'm the fool here."

Ziphaenarla twitched, as she furiosly waved her legs who were still bereft of support. "Why you... " She sputtered before hearing Dristin's loud laughter. Smiling on her own, the laugh was contagious as she began to laugh out loud too."WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!-- YEAH! SILLY ME! I only remember that i was tapping my foot towards the ground... only it was the ceiling actually. I lost support and PTAF!" She then realized something as she began to blush profusely, her laughter cut short as her ears dropped accordingly. Hurriedly flailing, she jumped back into a standing position, muttering something as she went by.

Kalandrin twitched at the sight and sound of these... two... mentally deficient driderlings! "Silence both of you!" she said with a serious look and loud voice. "This is the fortress of a Great Clan, not a kindergarten. You are to behave yourselves and not be noisy in public spaces. Remember that you are guests here, not permanent residents like the owners are" she sought to explain while helping Ziffy stand up. "I bet the entire fortress has heard you by now" she then groaned.

"Sorry..." muttered Dristin. She crossed her arms and pouted. "It's not like I didn't realize that. I just... I'm a Waelinider. Everybody knows that... "we" are a bit crazy. Why, if I still was a healthy two-legged Drowolath, then..." The rest of her speech devolved into incoherent mumbling that went on for a while, stopping only when she looked up at the angered adult. "I said I was sorry..."

Ziphaenarla stared back at Kalandrin. How could she be so mean all of a sudden? Her whole body was hurt by now, she had been laughed at and she was being scolded now. Her whole expression turned into a bizarre meld of spider shards and puppy eyes, The eightfold puppy stare of doom, which she directed back at Kalandrin.

Frowning, the old knight looked meanly at the two driderlings. She eventually sighed, seeing Dristin on the brink of collapse and Ziffy... just too darn adorable to be mean to in the first place, or something like that anyway. She tried to smile. "I didn't mean to hurt either of you" she said with a low, motherly voice as she placed her hands on their shoulders. "But you have to understand, we are not alone here. This fortress is primarily inhabited by nobility, and Vals at that."

She sighed, and ruffled Dristin's hair. "Calm down, daughter. Blame not your spidery self for your personality. Embrace the change and its sanity and you shall not be driven mad. Being a drider is natural nowadays; we don't live back at the Moon's Age, when it was a brand-new thing" she said encouragingly. She looked at the eightfold puppy stare of doom's direction. "I know. What about we go for that bath we were talking about?"